The present invention relates to recreational balls. More particularly, the invention relates to a recreational ball that is transformable to an inside-out configuration to thereby change its appearance and/or function.
Many types of recreational balls are known. Some are solid, such as billiard balls and cricket balls, whereas others, such as footballs and tennis balls are hollow.
Although the present invention does not aim specifically at addressing any problems known with such recreational balls, it aims at providing a soft recreational ball that can be turned inside-out to thereby change its appearance and/or function.
There is disclosed herein a recreational ball comprising:
a self-supporting flexible wall substantially surrounding an internal space, one side of the wall having first features that extend into or at least face said internal space, and the other side of the wall having second features at the ball exterior, and
a hole in said flexible wall, through which said first features can pass to the ball exterior as the ball is turned inside-out.
Preferably the first features are of different overall appearance than the second features.
Preferably the ball is made of highly elastic material.
Preferably said material is a gelatinous composition produced by a melt blend of a copolymer and plasticising oils.
Preferably the copolymer is a poly (styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene) triblock copolymer.
Preferably tackiness or stickiness in the gelatinous composition formed by plasticising the triblock copolymer of SEBS is removed. This might be achieved by spraying over the moulding a thin layer of lacquer or paint to cover any tacky areas. An alternative method of achieving this might be to spray dry powder over the tacky areas. Another method might be to use a chemical substance to remove the tackiness.
Preferably the first features are raised patterns, such as fins or rods or relief patterns.
Preferably the second features comprise a smooth surface.
Preferably the ball is formed by injection moulding or by cast moulding.
Preferably the thickness of the wall is not less than 4 mm where the diameter of the ball is about 50 mm and SEBS gelatinous composition is used, to thereby retain a substantially spherical shape before and after transformation from inside-in to inside-out.
For a more rigid material such as rubber, the wall thickness may be reduced if desired. Conversely, for very soft material, such as foamed latex, the wall thickness would be increased.
Such a ball, apart from changing appearance when turned inside-out, might function differently. For example, in one configuration, the ball might bounce from a surface, whereas in another configuration the ball might grip to a surface against which it is thrown.